Keyless lock box

ABSTRACT

A combination lock box having vertically spaced slideways in the front wall thereof slidably supporting three elongated slide members having a front face bearing numbers and a horizontal row of rearwardly extending breakable right angular tumbler elements integral with the body and aligned behind the numbers, designed for the purchaser to break off one of the tumbler elements of each slide member aligned behind a chosen number of the combination. A latch member supported on the lid of the lock box has three vertically spaced keeper projections which coact with the tumbler elements to retain the lock box in locked condition except when the slides are positioned to dispose the combination numbers in selected vertical alignment.

llite t s ateitt [72] Inventor Norman T. Kunst 2 1 Stonecrest Road,Ridgefield, Conn. 06877 [21] Appl. No, 10.716 [22] Filed Feb. 12, 1970[45] Patented July 6, 1971 [54] liEl/LESS LOCK BOX 10 Claims, 9 DrawingFigs.

[52] [15. C1 70/2911, 70/63, 70/323, 70/443 [51] Int. Cl. ..E05b 37/16,E05b 65/52, E05b 15/14 {50] Field ollSearch 70/63,293, 298, 410, 422,297, 287, 323, 288

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 612,335 10/1898 Hoggstrom70/287 1,201,174 10/1916 Grunwald 70/298 1,953,535 i/1934 Hlurd 70/4222,476,062 7/1949 Pierce 70/298 3,514,981 6/1970 Erquibel 70/298 PrimaryExaminer-1ames A, Leppinlk Assistant Examiner-Edward J. McCarthyA1torney-Mason,Fenwicl and Lawrence ABSTRACT: A combination lock boxhaving vertically spaced slideways in the front wall thereof slidablysupporting three elongated slide members having a front face bearingnumbers and a horizontal row ofrearwardly extending breakable rightangular tumbler elements integral with the body and aligned behind thenumbers, designed for the purchaser to break off one of the tumblerelements of each slide member aligned behind a chosen number of thecombination. A latch member supported on the lid of the lock box hasthree vertically spaced keeper projections which. coact with the tumblerelements to retain the lock box in locked condition except when theslides are positioned to dispose the combination numbers in selectedvertical alignment.

PATENTEDJUL-BIQ?! 3.590.614

SHEET 1 BF 3 INVENTOR NORMAN T, KuNs'r msswm s mw ATTORN E Y3 PATENTEBJUL-6 l97| SHEET 2 OF 3 8 c O o o 2 2 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS 20A I A 'ZOc.

NORMAN T KuNs-r Yw im m afimmq PATENIEU JUL-6 1911 SHEET 3 UF 3 INVENTORNQRMANT. KUNST ATTORNEYS Wqsm The present invention relates in generalto lockboxes or security containers which may be locked in closedcondition by a combination lock mechanism, and more particularly toboxes of relatively inexpensive construction which have incorporatedtherein a combination-type locking mechanism wherein the combination canbe selected by the purchaser or user.

Heretofore, a number of different types of lockboxes for valuables orother items which the owner desires to protect against unauthorized usehave been developed. Usually, these lockboxes have taken the form ofboxes having a key lockcontrolled lid, or boxes having various types ofcombination lock mechanisms involving rotatable dial wheels. The lockmechanisms customarily provided for such boxes, whether of the key lockor the combination lock type, have rendered the lockboxes relativelyexpensive because of the cost of production of the lock mechanism.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a lockboxcontrolled by a combination lock mechanism, which can be easily andinexpensively made, for example, of plastic, wood, metal or othersimilar materials, and which provides an inexpensive and reliablecombination mechanism.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a lockbox ofrelatively inexpensive construction, having incorporated thereinmanually setable slide members having visible numbers on the frontthereof, and having breakable tumbler or interlock members which may bebroken off by the user behind selected numbers to establish thecombination of the lock.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novellockbox construction as described in the immediately precedingparagraph, wherein the slide members and breaka ble tumbler or interlockmembers are formed of integral plastic construction so that the tumblermember associated with the combination number desired for thatparticular slide member can be manually snapped off by the userproviding a gating space which in association with the gating spaces forthe other slide members establish an open path relative to a latchmember on the box lid to permit the latter to be opened.

Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferredembodiment of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 is a perspective view of alocltbox embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the lockbox with the combinationslide members set for the proper combination;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal section view taken along the line M of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the combination slide memberand the latch member for the lid, viewed from the rear side thereof;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a lockboxconstruction in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view showing the manner inwhich the slide members may be inserted and the corner block assembledby the purchaser;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary vertical section view taken along the line 8-8of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary top view of the lockbox with the hinged lidremoved or raised to fully open position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to thedrawings, wherein like reference characters designate correspondingparts throughout the several figures, there is illustrated a lockbox it)having a lower or tray section 111 formed of a bottom wall 112,sidewalls 13, a rear wall M, and a front wall 115, and a lid section Inwhich is hinged to the upper edge of the rear wall, in the illustratedembodiment, by hinge mechanism H7.

The combination locking mechanism for the lockbox, compriseshorizontally elongated manually moveable, combina- I tion slide members20, three such slide members 20A, 20B and 20C being provided in theillustrated embodiment, which are independably adjustable longitudinallyin horizontal slideways, grooves, or channels M in the front wall 15 ofthe lower or tray section ll. These combination slide members 20 areconveniently molded from plastic material each having a flat front facewith numbers thereon, such as the digits 1 to 9, and have oppositelyprojecting portions, such as flange or rib formations 22, rearwardlybounding relatively constricted or narrower groove portions 23, toslidably interfit in similarly cross section channel portions 24 ofslideways 21 to retain the slide members 20 in the slideways 21. Rightangle or L-shaped breakable tumbler elements 25 formed integrally on theslide members 20 extend rearwardly in alignment with each respectivenumber on the front of the slide member, and include a horizontal legportion 26 and a vertically depending foot portion 27. Slots 2% ofappropriate width and length are provided in the base wall portion ofthe channels or portions 24 of slideways 21 to accommodate the legportions 26 of the tumbler elements 25 over the full sliding rangedesired for the slide members in the slideways 21, the rearmost portionsof the leg portions 26 and the foot portions 27 depending therefrombeing located rearwardly of the base wall portions of the slideways, asshown in FIG. 3.

Coactive with these rearwardly projecting leg and foot portions of thetumbler elements 25 to normally restrain the box in locked condition isa latch member 30 in the form of a depending block supported on the lidsection 16 rearwardly adjacent the tumbler elements 25. The latch member30 has a number of right angle or L-shaped keeper elements 31corresponding to the number horizontal sets of tumbler elements, threekeeper elements 31A, 31B and 31C being provided in the illustratedembodiment. The keeper elements 3ll each include a forwardly extendingshank 32 and a vertically upwardly projecting shoulder formation 33spaced forwardly from the body M of the latch member a distance slightlygreater than the thickness of the foot portions 27 of tumbler elements25 to forwardly lap the latter.

The combination of the lockbox is established by the user or purchaserby breaking off one tumbler element 25 of each slide member MBA, 20B and20C immediately behind or selec tively aligned with that number on theface of the associated slide member chosen as the combination number forthat slide member. For example, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2,the tumbler element 25 behind the number 7 on slide member 20A is brokenoff, and the tumbler elements behind the numbers 5 and 8 of slidemembers 208 and 20C respectively, are broken off, to establish thecombination. It will be apparent that when the three slide members 20A,20B and 20C are manually adjusted along their slideways 21 to align themembers '7, 5 and fl respectively with the fixed index mark 35 on thefront wall 15, the spaces vacated by the broken off tumbler elementswill be aligned with the keeper elements 31 of iatch member Ill) andprovide a vertical open gating space or way for the latch memberpermitting the lid to be opened. At any other position of the slidemembers 20, the leg and foot portions of at least one of the tumblerelements 25 will be interfitted in intercepting relation with one of thekeeper elements 31 and prevent opening of the lockbox.

The latch member 30 is preferably slidably supported in a slot in thelid 16 for manual movement by the finger of the user between a forwardlatched position wherein the shoulder formations 33 are disposed inalignment with the spaces between feet 27 and the base walls of theslideways 21 as shown in solid lines in FIG. 3, and a rearward releaseposition indicated at broken lines in FIG. 3 where the keeper elements31 are spaced rearwardly of the slides 20 far enough for the lowerelement 31 to clear the front wall as it traverses the upward arcuatepath through which it swings upon opening of the lid 16. In thisarrangement, the latch member 30 and intercoupled finger piece cannot bemoved to the release position until the slide members 20 are adjusted inaccordance with the proper combination, and in this position the lid canonly be lifted after rearward movement of the latch to release positionso that it will clear the front wall. A shielding partition 36 may beprovided in rearwardly spaced relation to the front wall 15 and latchmember 30 to provide a closure wall behind the slots 28 for the legportions of the tumbler elements 25.

The right angular shape of the tumbler elements 25 and keeper elements31 permits the lock construction to be readily used on either the frontwall or the lid of boxes wherein the lid is swung upwardly to open thebox, and renders the lock also readily adaptable to use on slidable topsfor lockboxes, or to use on slidable trays in a rectangular tubularhousing such as safety deposit boxes.

A slightly different embodiment is shown in FIGS. 6, 7, 8 and 9, whereinparts which correspond to the parts described in the first embodimentare indicated by the. same reference characters as the first embodiment.As shownfmore clearly in FIGS. 7 and 8, the front wall, here indicatilby reference character l5',, has slots 28' over their majbr portion areslightly narrower vertically than the slide members 20A, 20B and 20C andare provided with grooves located approximately midway between the frontand rear surface planes of the front wall to form guide grooves for theedges of the combination slide members 20'. Except for this differencein the configuration of the slide members, the slide members areotherwise the same as those described in the preceding embodiment, andhave right-angle or L-shaped tumbler elements 25 formed integrally onthe slide members and extending rearwardly in alignment witheachrespective number on the front of the slide member, each of thesetumbler elements including a horizontal leg portion 26 and a verticaldepending foot portion 27. The slide members 20 are also formed ofbreakable material, such as molded plastic so that the breakable tumblerelements 25 can be broken off by the purchaser to establish thecombination of the lockbox.

It is contemplated that the embodiment of FIGS. 6 to 9 would be shippedwith the slide members 20 removed from the slots 28' and located insidethe box. To facilitate insertion of the slide members 20' after thepurchaser has broken off the appropriate tumbler elements 25, one comerof the front wall is left open, in the manner illustrated in FIG. 7, toexpose the ends of the slots 28 for insertion of the slides 20', afterwhich a corner post, which is also shipped loose inside the box, isfitted into position at the comer region of the box as indicated in FIG.7. Preferably, this corner post is a one-way post construction, whereinthe surfaces 41 and 42 confronting the adjacent edges of the front walland left-hand sidewall 13 are provided with saw tooth-shaped notchesdefining upwardly facing horizontal transition shoulders 41, 42' whichinterfit with downwardly facing horizontal transition shoulders 43' onthe confronting end 43 of the front wall 15 and downwardly facinghorizontal transition shoulders 44 on the confronting edge 44 ofleft-hand sidewall 13. Thus when the purchaser has broken off theappropriate tumbler elements 25 on the slide members to establish thecombination and inserted them in the grooves 28', and has driven thepost 430 into position, the box will be completely assembled with thecombination established.

What I claim is:

1. A combination lockbox box comprising first and second relativelymoveable walls, latch means on said first wall having three verticallyspaced and aligned keeper projections inwardly adjacent said second walldefining restraining shoulder portions, said second wall having an indexmark and three horizontally elongated, vertically spaced slidewaystherein, three elongated slide members respectively associated with saidkeeper projections each including a body having a front face bearingnumbers and a horizontal row of rearwardly extending breakableright-angle tumbler elements integral with the body and aligned behindthe respective numbers, the tumbler elements having a terminalenlargement spaced rearwardly of the body to accommodate the shoulderportion of the associated keeper projection therebetween, one tumblerelement of each slide member associated with a selected number thereofbeing adapted to be broken off by the user at its juncture with saidbody to define a gating space for relative vertical movement of saidkeeper projections, and said slide members being movably supported insaid slideways for horizontal movement to align said selected numberscorresponding to the selected lockbox combination with the index mark todispose said gating spaces to release the keeper projections of thelatch means for movement to open position, the tumbler elements beinginterfitted in locking relation with the keeper projections at the otherpositions of the slide members in the slideways.

2. A combination lockbox as defined in claim 1, wherein said keeperprojections are right-angle keeper members having a horizontal keeperarm and a vertically rising end flange.

3. A combination lockbox as defined in claim 2, wherein said tumblerelements are each a right-angle tumbler member having a horizontaltumbler arm and a vertically depending foot forming said terminalenlargement.

4. A combination lockbox as defined in claim 1, wherein said tumblerelements are each a right-angle tumbler member having a horizontaltumbler arm and a vertically depending foot forming said terminalenlargement, said keeper projections being right-angle members, and theright-angle tumbler members interfitting with the right-angle keeperprojections when the slide members are out of registry with the lockcombination.

5. A combination lockbox as defined in claim 1, wherein each of saidslide members and their tumbler elements are integrally formed ofbreakable plastic, and the gating space formed when a tumbler element isbroken off corresponding substantially to the width of the keeperprojections.

6. A combination lockbox as defined in claim 3, wherein each of saidslide members and their tumbler elements are integrally formed ofbreakable plastic, and the gating space formed when a tumbler element isbroken otf corresponding substantially to the width of the keeperprojections.

7. A combination lockbox as defined in claim 4, wherein each of saidslide members and their tumbler elements are integrally formed ofbreakable plastic, and the gating space formed when a tumbler element isbroken off corresponding substantially to the width of the keeperprojections.

8. A combination lockbox as defined in claim 1, wherein said second wallis the vertical front wall of the lockbox having inwardly enlargedgrooves defining said slideways, said body of each of said slide membershaving oppositely projecting flanges interfitting in the enlargedportions of the grooves, and said slideways having elongated slotsaccommodating passage of said tumbler elements therethrough.

9. A combination lockbox as defined in claim 3, wherein said second wallis the vertical front wall of the lockbox having inwardly enlargedgrooves defining said slideways, said body of each of said slide membershaving oppositely projecting flanges interfitting in the enlargedportions of the grooves, and said slideways having elongated slotsaccommodating passage of the horizontal tumbler arms of said tumblerelements therethrough.

10. A combination lockbox as defined in claim 7, wherein said secondwall is the vertical front wall of the lockbox having said slidewayshaving elongated slots accommodating passage of the horizontal tumblerarms of said tumbler elements there-through.

1. A combination lockbox box comprising first and second relativelymoveable walls, latch means on said first wall having three verticallyspaced and aligned keeper projections inwardly adjacent said second walldefining restraining shoulder portions, said second wall having an indexmark and three horizontally elongated, vertically spaced slidewaystherein, three elongated slide members respectively associated with saidkeeper projections each including a body having a front face bearingnumbers and a horizontal row of rearwardly extending breakableright-angle tumbler elements integral with the body and aligned behindthe respective numbers, the tumbler elements having a terminalenlargement spaced rearwardly of the body to accommodate the shoulderportion of the associated keeper projection therebetween, one tumblerelement of each slide member associated with a selected number thereofbeing adapted to be broken off by the user at its juncture with saidbody to define a gating space for relative vertical movement of saidkeeper projections, and said slide members being movably supported insaid slideways for horizontal movement to align said selected numberscorresponding to the selected lockbox combination with the index mark todispose said gating spaces to release the keeper projections of thelatch means for movement to open position, the tumbler elements beinginterfitted in locking relation with the keeper projections at the otherpositions of the slide members in the slideways.
 2. A combinationlockbox as defined in claim 1, wherein said keeper projections areright-angle keeper members having a horizontal keeper arm and avertically rising end flange.
 3. A combination lockbox as defined inclaim 2, wherein said tumbler elements are each a right-angle tumblermember having a horizontal tumbler arm and a vertically depending footforming said terminal enlargement.
 4. A combination lockbox as definedin claim 1, wherein said tumbler elements are each a right-angle tumblermember having a horizontal tumbler arm and a vertically depending footforming said terminal enlargement, said keeper projections beingright-angle members, and the right-angle tumbler members interfittingwith the right-angle keeper projections when the slide members are outof registry with the lock combination.
 5. A combination lockbox asdefined in claim 1, wherein each of said slide members and their tumblerelements are integrally formed of breakable plastic, and the gatingspace formed when a tumbler element is broken off correspondingsubstantially to the width of the keeper projections.
 6. A combinationlockbox as defined in claim 3, wherein each of said slide members andtheir tumbler elements are integrally formed of breakable plastic, andthe gating space formed when a tumbler element is broken offcorresponding substantially to the width of the keeper projections.
 7. Acombination lockbox as defined in claim 4, wherein each of said slidemembers and their tumbler elements are integrally formed of breakableplastic, and the gating space formed when a tumbler element is brokenoff corresponding substantially to the width of the keeper projections.8. A combination lockbox as defined in claim 1, wherein said second wallis the vertical front wall of the lockbox having inwardly enlargedgrooves defining said slideways, said body of each of said slide membershaving oppositely projecting flanges interfitting in the enlargedportions of the grooves, and said slideways having elongated slotsaccommodating passage of said tumbler elements therethrough.
 9. Acombination lockbox as defined in claim 3, wherein said second wall isthe vertical front wall of the lockbox having inwardly enlarged groovesdefining said slideways, said body of each of said slide members havingoppositely projecting flanges interfitting in the enlarged portions ofthe grooves, and said slideways having elongated slots accommodatingpassage of the horizontal tumbler arms of said tumbler elementstherethrough.
 10. A combination lockbox as defined in claim 7, whereinsaid second wall is the vertical front wall of the lockbox havinginwardly enlarged grooves defining said slideways, said body of each ofsaid slide members having oppositely projecting flanges interfitting inthe enlarged portions of the grooves, and said slideways havingelongated slots accommodating passage of the horizontal tumbler arms ofsaid tumbler elements therethrough.